Reporter’s Notebook: With Marathon Days Away, No Turning Back

New York Marathon hopeful Stephanie Krikorian picked up her bib at the ING New York City Marathon Health and Fitness Expo at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in Manhattan Thursday.

Stephanie Krikorian is a contributor to WSJ.com. Since her first attempt to run the ING New York City Marathon was cut short last year by superstorm Sandy, she will chronicle her second try with occasional posts here.

Never mind Sunday’s marathon. I’m quite tired from spending Thursday morning at the expo at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center, where, along with throngs of others, I collected my bib.

Now that I’ve got it, there’s no turning back.

There was something else waiting for 20,000 of us who trained twice—once in 2012 before it was cancelled due to superstorm Sandy, and again for Sunday’s run: a commemorative orange bracelet marking both efforts. They handed me last year’s medal too, which up until now, I’d declined to accept even though I knew it was available to me. I haven’t even worn the 2012 shirt they gave us, since I didn’t get to run the race. The bracelet, I’ll wear on Sunday, though, to remind me when I’m hurting at mile 22 just how much effort I’ve put in.

I caught up with a couple of other people at the expo who trained for last year’s race as well. New Zealander Winston Churchill (I didn’t believe him at first either until he reached for his wallet to prove it) was to run in 2012. He said he was much more ready last year, with good reason. “I had a stroke about three months ago, and it interrupted my training,” he said. “But I came anyway. I’m pretty fit, but not as fit as last year.”

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